Four Letters
by Shenandoah Risu
Summary: Four personal letters written to or by people on the Destiny. Some of them are responses to other letters but they can still stand on their own. Becker, Riley, Franklin  and their relatives  and others.


**Title: Four Letters  
Author: Shenandoah Risu  
Rating**: PG-13  
**Spoilers**: SGU Season 1  
**Word Count**: around 610  
**Summary**: Four letters written by or to people on the _Destiny_.  
**Characters**: various SGU characters and relatives  
**Author's Notes**: Written for a challenge at the LJ Comm Stargateland. Some of them are responses to other letters but they can still stand on their own.  
**Disclaimer**: I don't own SGU. I wouldn't know what to do with it. Now, Young... Young I'd know what to do with. ;-)  
**Thanks for reading! Any feedback or review will receive a personal response. ;-)**

**Four Letters**

**Darren Becker**:

Dear Grandpa,

I hope you are well – happy 75th birthday! How is Fluffy? Is she still dragging you around the block three times a day? I'm on a classified assignment right now, and it may be quite a while before I get back. I know, you probably wonder what kind of classified work an Air Force cook can possibly do, but you know, all those people on their secret missions have to eat, too!

It's been quite an experience since I transferred. I can't begin to describe to you the learning curve I've had! I guess I did pretty well there, because I got to learn some pretty complicated gourmet meals for the officers and special occasions and some pretty important guests of honor. This is the best cooking school ever!

In my current assignment I'm actually the head of the department, because there is nobody else! I take care of some 80 people, and due to supply constrictions I've had to be very creative to make the same rations palatable to all these people. I've made friends with a few scientists who are working with flavorings, so I'm now getting a crash course in chemistry, too!

I'm also getting lots of opportunities to "live off the land", using all sorts of foodstuffs unknown to me. I learned how to test fruits, vegetables and grains for toxins, and what to do to maybe use them just the same. It's stressful, but it's also a great challenge, and I remember all the stories from when you worked for the Grand Hotel, and how you sometimes had to make the very best out of what little you had. I try to live by your example now, and I can't thank you enough for all the little tricks you taught me. Every time one of my people thanks me for a new dish, I know I owe it all to you.

Guess what – I've also learned how to cut hair! Nothing fancy, not like those artistic guys from Paris, but like a decent meal a good haircut keeps up morale.

I can't wait to see you again, grandpa, but if I'm here longer than expected, rest assured I will always keep you in my heart. Take good care of yourself.

Much love,

Darren

oOo

**Hunter Riley**:

Dear Mom,

I hope this letter finds you well. I know I promised to write more often, but my current assignment is highly classified, and I don't even know when I'll be coming home to visit again.

Still, I just wanted to let you know I'm doing okay. I had a bit of a welding accident some time back but I recovered all right. I promise to always be careful – this incident was just something beyond my control, you know, like when Blossom started chasing Buttercup and they knocked over the milking machine and shorted out the cow barn. I was pretty messed up then, but just as you helped me through it then I have terrific colleagues and friends who take good care of me now.

I might be a big klutz, like Dad said, for the rest of my life, but I'm trying my best and I'm a member of a great team, and we work together, like our own family has always done in times of crisis, and we help each other out.

I know you worry about me, and I worry about you and all the others, too. But like you always said, all we can do is try our best, be kind and work hard. And that's what we all do here. I'm sorry I can't tell you more. I just want you to know I'm in good hands.

I wish I could be home to help with the harvest – believe me, there are times that I would give anything for a bucket of our sweet corn! Meanwhile, have a few in my name.

Please give my love to everyone at home. I miss you all, and I hope to come home some day soon.

All my love,

Hunter

oOo

**Jesse Becker** (Darren Becker's younger brother)

Yo, big Bro,

Man, it was good to hear from you, though it was weird with the different handwriting and all. Your chicken scratch was NEVER this neat! I'll be sure I tell mom next time she comes in to visit. Sorry I can't tell you much about home though…

Hate to tell you, but I got into trouble right away after graduation… stupid stuff, I know, but I'm in jail right now. I got another couple of weeks and then 6 weeks community service. At the hospital, no less, the judge said, if I saw how people suffer from injuries that would teach me to control my temper in the future. I guess he's right. I'm real sorry, too, but I just got so mad, you know? Stupid Sand Crabs, to ruin our winning streak.

Anyhoo, be glad you have some girls around, even if they're no fun or a little on the stiff side. I'm sure they like you. Girls dig guys who can cook. You should see the cafeteria lady, boy, she could give you nightmares, but all the guys here love her to pieces! And she ain't exactly easy on the eyes, know what I mean?

So, I don't know what I'll do when I get out. Forest Service actually sounds good but I don't know if they take someone with a record… Mom says I'd better get my shit together, and if I screw up the community service she'll personally set me straight. They have career counselors here, maybe they can give me a couple of tests and stuff.

I hope you get this letter. They read my mail so I can't say much, but I hope you know that I'm proud of you. I would gladly scrub the shitters all day if I could be there with you. Believe me, I could use a little bit of that adventure right now!

Well, it's chow time. Gotta go see what Ella's thrown together for us troublemakers today. I miss you, bro. I'm thinking of you a lot. Take good care of yourself, and feed your crew well. I'm sure they appreciate you more than they ever let on.

Your little brother

Jesse

oOo

**Jeremy Franklin**:

Dear Eli

I wish I could write to you and respond to your heartfelt letter, but it's been so long since I've held a pen I'm not sure I know how to do it any more. I'm not even sure I want to. So I'm leaving this message in Destiny's data base for you to find some day. It is coded to your DNA, so it's only for you to find.

My time on Destiny was brief but I felt similar to you – it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. And watching you reminded me very much of the way I used to be when I was your age. My hair is lighter than yours but other than that we could have been twins. Granted, I never had to go through the heartbreak you had at home, but my twenties weren't all hearts and puppies either. Still, I worked my way through school, grad school and a doctoral degree – only to find out the world is so much bigger than I ever knew. And now my horizons have expanded yet again – a hundredfold or more. Infinity is a scary concept, but there is comfort to be found in it as well.

My advice to you is simple: cherish the people who are with you, the ones who love you and the ones that don't. Because this universe is so vast, and we are so small, and we can really only control one thing: whether we are good or evil. You're a good guy, Eli, don't ever change. And I hope you understand some day that love exists on many different levels. I have just recently discovered another one that is, quite literally, out of this world. And when you think about it you will realize that you have all this love already. Proof is never required for its existence, only trust that it is there.

Never lose your sense of wonder. In the end, it is all we have.

In friendship,

Jeremy Franklin


End file.
